Flyafrica.com (Harare) is a new airline in Zimbabwe. The new carrier has announced it will launch low-fare and pay-as-you-go operations on July 23 with Boeing 737-500 aircraft. The first route will be from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg with three weekly flights.
Air Seychelles (Mahe) has issued this first quarter financial statement. Previously the airline in April announced its second profitable year in a row. Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) controls 40 percent of its stock and has been very helpful in its turnaround. Its turnaround continues in the first quarter:
Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, has recorded strong 2014 first quarter results with a 38.2 per cent increase in passenger numbers to 95,372, compared to the same period in 2013 (69,009 passengers).
Passenger numbers on Air Seychellesโ international network increased 77.3 per cent to 58,971, a result of more traffic between the Seychelles and Abu Dhabi, Mauritius, Johannesburg and Hong Kong.
A 66 per cent increase in revenue was attributable to improved connectivity with codeshare partner, Etihad Airwaysโ global network, and enhanced cargo services.
Cargo tonnage for the period rose 126.8 per cent to 1,602 tonnes, driven by strong demand from Paris, Hong Kong, and Johannesburg, enhancements to Air Seychellesโ on-ground cargo handling capability in Mahรฉ, and the launch of Seychelles domestic cargo services.
Manoj Papa, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles, said: โOur first quarter passenger and cargo performance indicates that we are delivering on our mandate to support the Seychelles economy both through tourism and trade.
โWe remain committed to meeting these objectives in the months and years ahead, by building depth and scale into our network, organically and through partnerships, taking delivery of new aircraft, hiring more Seychellois, and bringing more guests and trade to the Seychelles.
โAir Seychelles will continue to focus on operational efficiencies, while maintaining a commitment to our guests to offer value, convenience and comfort, and being their airline of choice in the Indian Ocean region.โ
At the end of the first quarter of 2014, Air Seychellesโ combined passenger and cargo network stood at five destinations in the Seychelles, Africa, Europe and Asia. The airline also has codeshare partnerships with Airberlin, Cathay Pacific Airways, Etihad Airways, and South African Airways, extending its network to 39 cities around the world.
Read the full report from the Seychelles News Agency: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Rainer Bexten/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 A6-EYY (msn 751) on lease from Etihad Airways arrives in Johannesburg.
Air Seychelles:ย 
Air Seychelles (Mahe) has announced it will resume flights to Paris (CDG) on July 2, 2014.
The flag carrier will operate two weekly roundtrips from the Seychelles to Paris via Abu Dhabi, with Air Seychelles deploying its brightly-colored Airbus A330-200 aircraft (above) on the route, offering 18 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 236 seats in Economy Class.
Partner Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) will also place its EY code on the flights.
Copyright Photo: Rainer Bexten/AirlinersGallery.com. Leased from Etihad Airways, Airbus A330-243 A6-EYY (msn 751) completes its final approach into Johannesburg (JNB).
Air Seychelles:ย 
Safair (Johannesburg) has issued this statement about its new low-fare FlySafair (Johannesburg) passenger subsidiary:
Microsoft Word – FlySafair announcement
Safair has announced the news that the Air Services Council (ASLC) has granted FlySafair a domestic air service licence for the operation of domestic scheduled flights. This is in addition to the international and domestic unscheduled licence that it held for almost 50 years, providing aviation services both domestically and internationally.
The airline was initially blocked from starting its operations after two competitors brought an urgent application to interdict the new low cost airline from starting its operations based on it not meeting the 75% domestic ownership requirements.
Since then FlySafair has restructured their shareholding, getting rid of the shareholding which caused the problems and at the same time concluding the largest employee share ownership scheme in the aviation industry, effectively giving its South African employees a 25.14% stake in the company.
Despite FlySafair not having been operational since October 2013, the airline retained the services of all the employees who were hired 10 months ago, by utilising them in Safairโs traditional business of providing backup services to local airlines and also in international charter operations.
FlySafair:ย
Top Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-4Y0 ZS-JRD (msn 24917) taxies at the Johannesburg base.
Comair Limited (British Airways) (Johannesburg) and Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) today announced an order for eight 737 MAX 8s, valued atย $830 millionย at list prices. It is the first 737 MAX order announcement for an African operator. The order was booked inย December 2013ย and was previously unidentified on theย Boeing Orders & Deliveries website.
Johannesburg-based Comair operatesย Africa’sย first low cost carrier, kulula.com (Johannesburg), offering flights toย South Africa’smajor cities. Comair is also the franchise partner of British Airways, operating its local and regional Southern African routes. The company currently flies an all-Boeing fleet of 25 Classic and Next-Generation 737s on its kulula.com and British Airways (operated by Comair) brands. The order for eight 737 MAX 8s will support future fleet renewal and expansion.
With today’s announcement Comair will have a total of 12 airplanes on order from Boeing, including the eight 737 MAX 8s and four Next-Generation 737-800s for delivery in 2015 and 2016. Since its announcement in 2011, the 737 MAX has amassed more than 1,800 orders worldwide.
Top Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Operating under the British Airways franchise agreement, Boeing 737-85R ZS-ZWI (msn 30403) arrives back at Comair’s Johannesburg base.
Comair (South Africa):ย 
Kulula:ย
Bottom Copyright Photo: Rainer Bexten/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-86N ZS-ZWP (msn 28612) in the humorous “flying 101” special livery approaches the runway at Johannesburg.
South African Airways (Johannesburg) starting on March 28, will be operating a newer aircraft, the Airbus A330-200 on scheduled flights between London Heathrow and Johannesburg.
The newer aircraft replaces the current A340-600 used on the route and will operate on flight SA 235, the first of SAAโs two daily departures at 1900 and selected SA 237 flights, which departs at 2100.
In other news,ย South African has announced that it has accepted QANTAS Airways’ (Sydney) decision to conclude their long standing code share agreement effective May 31, 2014.
SAA has been flying to Sydney for more than 27 years before the code share with QANTAS was put in place in October 2000 following the strategic decision for SAA to stop operating between Johannesburg and Sydney with its own aircraft and to begin code sharing with QANTAS.
As a result, South African has announced a new code share agreement with Virgin Australia Brisbane).
SAA flies daily between Johannesburg and Perth and this new partnership offers SAA customers expanded access across Australia to domestic destinations such as Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide.ย The new code share is now available for travel starting on February 11.
Virgin Australia has been an interline partner of SAA since July 2010 where the two airlines had a commercial agreement to handle those customers travelling on both airlines. SAA is now expanding this relationship into a code share agreement.
The flag carrier is celebrating its 80th anniversary this month.ย South African Airways dates back to February 1, 1934, when the South African government took over the assets and liabilities of Union Airways. The airline was renamed South African Airways (SAA), and fell under the control of the South African Railways and Harbour administration.
On November 1, 1934, SAA introduced the Junkers Ju 52/3m, the first multi-engine aircraft, which was used on domestic flights. During the 1930s, theย airline steadily acquired more planes, including the first 10-seater Junkers Ju 86s, Douglas DC-3s, Lockheed 749A Constellations, Lockheed Lodestars, Douglas DC-7Bs, Vickers Viscounts and the Boeing 707.
Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 ZS-SXX (msn 1223) approaches the runway at the O.R. Tambo International Airport base near Johannesburg.
South African:ย
LAM – Linhas Aereas de Mocambique (Maputo) and Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) announced an order for three Next-Generation 737-700 airplanes. The order, valued atย $228 millionย at list prices, includes purchase rights for three additional Next-Generation 737s.
The order, formally signed inย November 2013ย and was previously unidentified on the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website, is part of theย Mozambiqueย flag-carrier and the country’s Ministry of Transport and Communication’s long-term strategy to increase flight frequency and provide greater route flexibility to and from the southern African nation.
LAM – Linhas Aereas de Mocambique’s new 737-700s will be fitted with Boeing’s latest Performance Improvement Package (PIP), delivering an additional two percent improvement in fuel efficiency for what is already the most fuel efficient single aisle aircraft. The airplanes will also feature the popular passenger-inspired Boeing Sky Interior, with modern sculpted sidewalls and window reveals, LED lighting that enhances the sense of spaciousness and larger pivoting overhead stowage bins.
Based atย Maputoย International Airport inย Mozambique’sย capital city, LAM – Linhas Aereas de Mocambique currently operates flights domestically and regionally, across southernย Africaย with a fleet that currently includes Boeing 737-500s, and other smaller regional aircraft.
Copyright Photo: TMK Photography/AirlinersGallery.com. The new Boeing 737-700s will replace the older 104-seat 737-500 type. Boeing 737-53S C9-BAP (msn 29074) arrives in Johannesburg.
LAM:ย
Route Map: African routes that will be operated with the new Boeing 737-700s:
South African Airways (Johannesburg) has announced that it is resuming its nonstop flights between Johannesburg,ย South Africa,ย andย New Yorkย โ JFK International Airport.ย The nonstop flight will resume on March 9, nearly three weeks ahead of its original schedule of March 28.
While SAA’sย New York-Johannesburg flight has continued to operate on a nonstop daily basis, the return flight has been temporarily making a one hour refuelling stop in Dakar, Senegal, due in part to lower travel demand during the winter months. The nonstop flight will be timed to arrive inย New Yorkย in the early morning, allowing customers to quickly connect on flights to points throughout North America.
The nonstop flight schedule is as follows (all times are local):
Flight SA 203 departs Johannesburg at 8:25 pm (2025), arrivesย New Yorkย JFK at 6:40 am (0640) the next day Flight SA 204departsย New Yorkย JFK at 11:15 am (1115), arrives Johannesburg at 8:00 am (0800) the next day.
Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com.ย South African Airways’ Airbus A340-642 ZS-SNH (msn 626) departs from the Johannesburg hub.
South African Airways:ย
British Airways (London) Boeing 747-400 (believed to be 747-436 G-BNLL, msn 24054) preparing to depart from Johannesburg for London (Heathrow) on Sunday night (December 22) while taxing to the runway took the wrong taxiway. The right wing slammed into a building adjacent to the taxiway. The 202 passengers and crew members safely exited the aircraft. The aircraft has now been removed from the building.
Four employees were injured in the building leased by the Bidvest Group Limited mainly from falling debris.
Photo tweeted by Harriet Tolputt:
Read the full report from the Sydney Morning Herald: CLICK HERE
British Airways:ย
Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) will add a new long-range route to Dallas/Fort Worth on December 3, 2014 becoming the fifth destination in the United States. Etihad has a code-share agreement with American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth). The new route will operate three days a week withย three-cabin ultra-long range Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft (Etihad is acquiring five 777-200 LRs from Air India). The aircraft will be configured to carry 237 guests, with 8 Diamond First Class suites, 40 Pearl Business Class flatbed seats, and 189 Coral Economy Class seats.
Flight EY 161 will depart every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday from Abu Dhabi at 9.45 am (0945) and arrive in Dallas/Fort Worth at 4.30 pm (1630) the same day. The return flight, EY 160, will depart Dallas/Fort Worth at 6.45 pm (1845) on the same day and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 7.50 pm (1950) the following day.
DFWย joins the other US cities of Chicago (O’Hare), New York (JFK), Washington (Dulles) and Los Angeles (to launch on June 1, 2014).
Etihad is also launching its fourth route to Australia on July 15, 2014 with daily flights to Perth, Western Australia. The new route will operate withย Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 262 seats โ 22 seats in Pearl Business Class and 240 in Coral Economy Class.
Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 A6-EYN (msn 832) prepares to land in Johannesburg.
Etihad Airways:ย
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